Abnormal Pedestrian Trajectory analysis based on arbitrary-length clustering

This papers examines the use of trajectory distance measures and clustering techniques to define normal
and abnormal trajectories in the context of pedestrian tracking in public spaces. In order to detect abnormal
trajectories, what is meant by a normal trajectory in a given scene is firstly defined. Then every trajectory
that deviates from this normality is classified as abnormal. By combining Dynamic Time Warping and a
modified K-Means algorithms for arbitrary-length data series, we have developed an algorithm for trajectory
clustering and abnormality detection. The final system performs with an overall accuracy of 83% and 75%
when tested in two different standard datasets.

Der Begriff der Freiheit in der Waldorfpädagogik : ein Abgleich zwischen den ursprünglichen Zielen der Waldorfpädagogik und der heutigen Praxis an Waldorfschulen

[s.c.]

Sex ända in i skolbänken : En kvalitativ intervjustudie ur religionslärares perspektiv

Det här är en kvalitativ intervjustudie som syftar till att undersöka hur religionskunskapslärare undervisar om sexualitet i skiljelinjen mellan att upprätthålla antidiskrimineringslagen och värdegrunden, i samband med att skapa förståelse för religioners synsätt på sexualitet. Med kvalitativ forskningsintervju som metod, intervjuades fem religionskunskapslärare som undervisar på både gymnasiet och för grundskolans senare år. Därefter analyserades lärarnas utsagor utifrån toleranspedagogik, normkritisk pedagogik och existentiell relationspedagogik som teoretiska ramverk i syfte att tolka vilka didaktiska aspekter, möjligheter och svårigheter som är förknippat med deras undervisning om sexualitet. Resultatet visade att det fanns många likheter i hur de bedrev sin undervisning. Samtliga lärare upplevde att det finns en spänning mellan att värna om antidiskriminering och att skapa förståelse för religioners synsätt på sexualitet. Mangrant värnade de om rätten till att styra över sitt eget liv men också att det fanns nyansskillnader i vad man tryckte på i värdegrunden. Lärarna beskrev att de hanterade värdegrundskonflikter genom att markera, dra gränser mellan religionens och samhällets normer och diskutera. Vidare beskrev lärarna både didaktiska möjligheter och svårigheter med att undervisa om sexualitet inom religionsämnet och att de upplevde detta på olika sätt. För en stor del av de intervjuade fanns en gemensam nämnare i att det förekom didaktiska svårigheter förknippat med elevers negativa inställningar till homosexualitet men också om det fanns elever som tidigare varit utsatt för något.

"Vi som sköter oss" : En kvalitativ intervjustudie om främlingsfientlighet och dess orsaker i relation till medierapportering kring invandring och flyktingfrågor

Under flyktingkrisen 2015 hårdnade debatten kring flyktingmigration och de främlingsfientliga rösterna höjdes. Som ett resultat av den mediala uppmärksamheten kring flyktingkrisen anses nu invandrings- och integrationsfrågan vara den överlägset viktigaste samhällsfrågan i Sverige. Forskning kring främlingsfientlighet har i stor utsträckning genomförts ur majoritetsbefolkningens perspektiv, i denna studie ligger fokus istället på personer med utländsk bakgrund och deras erfarenheter av främlingsfientliga attityder. Genom en kvalitativ metod där åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts har denna studie undersökt hur personer med utländsk bakgrund upplever främlingsfientlighet och dess orsaker i relation till medierapportering kring invandring och flyktingfrågor. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av Intergroup threat theory, Cultivation theory och stereotypisering och visar att främlingsfientlighet existerar mellan majoritets- och minoritetsgrupper men även inom minoritetsgrupper. De upplevelser som identifieras är huvudsakligen vardagliga händelser och dess orsaker grundar sig på samhälleliga problem, kulturskillnader och stereotyper. Enligt respondenterna framställer media personer med utländsk bakgrund och flyktingar övervägande negativt och påverkar därmed attityder och främlingsfientliga åsikter i det svenska samhället. Ett resultat av detta menar respondenterna är att Sverige har blivit mer främlingsfientligt på grund av den mediala rapporteringen kring flyktingkrisen.

Wind Farm Facilities in Germany Kill Noctule Bats from Near and Far

Over recent years, it became widely accepted that alternative, renewable energy may come at some risk for wildlife, for example, when wind turbines cause large numbers of bat fatalities. To better assess likely populations effects of wind turbine related wildlife fatalities, we studied the geographical origin of the most common bat species found dead below German wind turbines, the noctule bat (Nyctalus noctula). We measured stable isotope ratios of non-exchangeable hydrogen in fur keratin to separate migrants from local individuals, used a linear mixed-effects model to identify temporal, spatial and biological factors explaining the variance in measured stable isotope ratios and determined the geographical breeding provenance of killed migrants using isoscape origin models. We found that 72% of noctule bat casualties (n = 136) were of local origin, while 28% were long-distance migrants. These findings highlight that bat fatalities at German wind turbines may affect both local and distant populations. Our results indicated a sex and age-specific vulnerability of bats towards lethal accidents at turbines, i.e. a relatively high proportion of killed females were recorded among migratory individuals, whereas more juveniles than adults were recorded among killed bats of local origin. Migratory noctule bats were found to originate from distant populations in the Northeastern parts of Europe. The large catchment areas of German wind turbines and high vulnerability of female and juvenile noctule bats call for immediate action to reduce the negative cross-boundary effects of bat fatalities at wind turbines on local and distant populations. Further, our study highlights the importance of implementing effective mitigation measures and developing species and scale-specific conservation approaches on both national and international levels to protect source populations of bats. The efficacy of local compensatory measures appears doubtful, at least for migrant noctule bats, considering the large geographical catchment areas of German wind turbines for this species.

Dynamically balanced and plausible trajectory planning for human-like characters

International audience

VIOLA MUSIC FROM THE AMERICAS: MUSIC FROM CANADA, UNITED STATES, CUBA, VENEZUELA, MEXICO, AND BRAZIL

The enthusiasm towards writing music for the viola that flourished in the early 1900’s thanks to the efforts of a number of twentieth-century violists and composers rapidly spilled over to North and South America. Viola works by American and Canadian composers have already become cornerstones of the viola repertoire worldwide. On the other hand, compositions from other parts of the American continent remain lesser known outside of their country of origin. This is due in part to the less developed publishing and recording industry in these countries which makes it difficult for performers and programmers from other countries to buy or rent performing materials. As a violist born and trained in Venezuela, performing works by important Latin American composers to new audiences is deeply important to me. This dissertation was completed by performing selected works by Canadian, American, Cuban, Mexican, Brazilian, and Venezuelan composers. Composers from these countries have mixed their rich musical traditions with modern compositional techniques, creating original works that have greatly enriched the viola repertoire. This eclectic mixture of styles makes the music from Latin American composers not only very different from that of American and Canadian composers, but also very different from those of their neighboring countries. Through my three dissertation recitals, I intend to share this music with new audiences and inspire other violists to become familiar with this repertoire. The first recital includes compositions by American composers George Rochberg (1918-2015), Elliott Carter (1908-2012), and Alan Shulman (1915-2002) and Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum (b. 1945). The second recital includes works by Cuban composers Cesar Orozco (b. 1980), and Keyla Orozco (b. 1969), Venezuelan composers Aldemaro Romero (1928-2007) and Modesta Bor (1926-1998), and Venezuelan-Uruguayan composer Efrain Oscher (b. 1974). The third recital includes works by Mexican composers Carlos Chavez (1899-1978), José Pablo Moncayo (1912-1958) and Manuel M Ponce (1882-1948), and Brazilian composers Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) and Brenno Blauth (1931-1993). This music represents a bouquet of a distinctive mixture of styles from different parts of the American continent. Recordings of all three recitals can be accessed at the University of Maryland Hornabake Library.

Improving DPA and DFA resistance of circuits using asynchronous logic

International audience

Resilience and Urban Risk Management

International audience

A comparative study of navigation meshes

International audience

EACS: Effective Avoidance Combination Strategy

International audience

TcT: Tyrolean Complexity Tool

International audience

Flixweed vs. Polyethylene Glycol in the Treatment of Childhood Functional Constipation: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is often considered as the first-line treatment for functional constipation in children. Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb et Berth (D. sophia) is a safe recommended medicine in Iranian folk and Traditional Persian Medicine for the treatment of constipation. Objectives: To clinically compare D. sophia with PEG 4000 (without electrolyte) in pediatric constipation and to assess its efficacy and side effects. Patients and Methods: 120 patients aged 2 - 12 years with constipation for at least 3 months were included in an 8 weeks lasting randomized controlled trial within two parallel-groups. Children received either PEG, 0.4 g/kg/day, or D. sophia seeds, 2 grams (for children aged 2 - 4 years) and 3 grams (for those aged > 4 years) per day. Results: A total of 109 patients completed the study (56 in D. sophia and 53 in PEG group). At the end of the study, 36 (64.3%) patients in D. sophia group and 29 (54.7%) in PEG group were out of Rome III criteria (P = 0.205). Median weekly stool frequency in 0, 1, 2, 3 weeks of the treatment was found to be 2, 5, 5, 5 in D. sophia and 3, 4, 4, 5 in PEG group (P = 0.139, 0.076, 0.844, 0.294), respectively. The number of patients who suffered flatulence was less (5, 8.9%) in D. sophia group as compared to PEG group (6, 11.3%) at the end of the trial (P = 0.461). D. sophia taste was less tolerated. Conclusions: D. sophia is introduced as a cheap and available medication which can be applied as a safe alternative to conventional PEG in the management of pediatric chronic functional constipation.

Towards person-centered neuroimaging markers for resilience and vulnerability in Bipolar Disorder

Improved clinical care for Bipolar Disorder (BD) relies on the identification of diagnostic markers that can reliably detect disease-related signals in clinically heterogeneous populations. At the very least, diagnostic markers should be able to differentiate patients with BD from healthy individuals and from individuals at familial risk for BD who either remain well or develop other psychopathology, most commonly Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). These issues are particularly pertinent to the development of translational applications of neuroimaging as they represent challenges for which clinical observation alone is insufficient. We therefore applied pattern classification to task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of the n-back working memory task, to test their predictive value in differentiating patients with BD (n=30) from healthy individuals (n=30) and from patients' relatives who were either diagnosed with MDD (n=30) or were free of any personal lifetime history of psychopathology (n=30). Diagnostic stability in these groups was confirmed with 4-year prospective follow-up. Task-based activation patterns from the fMRI data were analyzed with Gaussian Process Classifiers (GPC), a machine learning approach to detecting multivariate patterns in neuroimaging datasets. Consistent significant classification results were only obtained using data from the 3-back versus 0-back contrast. Using contrast, patients with BD were correctly classified compared to unrelated healthy individuals with an accuracy of 83.5%, sensitivity of 84.6% and specificity of 92.3%. Classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity when comparing patients with BD to their relatives with MDD, were respectively 73.1%, 53.9% and 94.5%. Classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity when comparing patients with BD to their healthy relatives were respectively 81.8%, 72.7% and 90.9%. We show that significant individual classification can be achieved using whole brain pattern analysis of task-based working memory fMRI data. The high accuracy and specificity achieved by all three classifiers suggest that multivariate pattern recognition analyses can aid clinicians in the clinical care of BD in situations of true clinical uncertainty regarding the diagnosis and prognosis.